


After-Hours

by LanceMcFlurry



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Gen, M/M, One Shot, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-15 00:01:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29179911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LanceMcFlurry/pseuds/LanceMcFlurry
Summary: Fighting Shadows wasn’t cheap. Not in the slightest. The weapons that the Investigation Team used weren’t bad by any means, but they could use upgrades. That’s why Daidara was for. The only problem was, everything was kind of expensive. So of course, another job wouldn’t hurt. That’s How Yu Narukami found himself wandering at night and managed to get a job at Shiroku Pub.
Relationships: Hanamura Yosuke/Narukami Yu, Hanamura Yosuke/Persona 4 Protagonist, Hanamura Yosuke/Seta Souji
Kudos: 40





	After-Hours

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, so this is random. I was trying out this thing where I write a new fic every day for the month of February. I'm probably not going to post all of them. However, expect some random fics coming out here and there. Yes, I'm still working on Velvet! I'm just trying something new ;>

Fighting Shadows wasn’t cheap. Not in the slightest. The weapons that the Investigation Team used weren’t bad by any means, but they could use upgrades. That’s why Daidara was for. The only problem was, everything was kind of expensive. So of course, another job wouldn’t hurt. That’s How Yu Narukami found himself wandering at night and managed to get a job at Shiroku Pub.

Working at Shiroku at night was proving to be pretty beneficial for Yu. It definitely wasn’t a job he’d expected, or what anyone would expect him to do, but he actually really liked it. It was kind of pleasant and sometimes he’d meet some new people around Inaba. Tonight was one of those times. Usually, Yu would be in the back washing dishes, and he was when the event happened. He went to deliver the fresh dishes when a woman with long dark brown hair and dressed in office attire gave him a suspicious look. She didn’t look tipsy, and she looked like she just arrived. The woman also looked faintly familiar to someone, he just couldn’t put his finger on it.

“You look young..” She raised a brow as she took a sip from her cup. It looked like water. Yu paused and nodded once before going to scurry back into the kitchen. He’d gotten comments like this before, but it’d be bad if word got out that he was working at this place. The woman stopped him in his tracks. “Hold it, Mister!” She demanded. Yu obeyed and nervously turned back around.

“Um...How could I help you...Miss?” He timidly answered. The woman frowned slightly and placed down her cup. Her hand raised to point a finger at his chest, “You go to Yasogami? Don’t lie, I’m a mother,” Well, that made sense on why she had a bit of commanding authority about her. Yu took a deep breath and sighed. Even if she wasn’t a mother, he didn’t really have the strength to lie to anyone. 

“I...I do. I’m a second year, Miss,” He looked down as if he was being scolded or something. The woman hummed and drank the rest of her water. She seemed to leave him alone for the rest of the time she was there and left soon after. Yu was on edge about it as he finished his shift. What if that woman told someone? Word spreads fast, so what if it gets back to Dojima? His uncle might think he’s a delinquent or something…

The next day, he went to school and something just seemed a little off. Not in general, but with Yosuke specifically. Over the past few months, he and Yosuke had become oddly close in a short amount of time. Then again, it wasn’t exactly normal to be involved with a series of serial murders and stopping them by going inside a TV, but y’know. He’s kind of glad that he was able to find someone he was so close to. Yosuke could be a bit clumsy at times, mentally and physically, but he was also really kind, loyal, and hard-working. Little to say, he thought really highly of him.

Yosuke kept giving him weird looks and seemed to be on the edge of asking a question, but it never came. He kind of liked the attention of being stared at by him, but the connotation wasn’t what he wanted. It wasn’t until the end of the day when something happened, kind of. 

“Do you have a job?” He tilted his head as they walked out of the school. Yu raised a brow and nodded slightly. Yosuke’s face seemed to twist into a plethora of emotions. He looked embarrassed, confused, disappointed, as well as surprised. Yu was now on alert, “Why do you ask…?” It was quiet for a moment until Yosuke waved a hand dismissively, the previous emotions leaving his face to settle for something of exasperation.

“It’s...nothing. See you later, partner,” They hadn’t gotten to the intersection yet, but Yosuke rushed towards it and turned down a path to head home. ‘That was weird…’ Yu blinked a few times in confusion and frowned. Did he upset Yosuke in some way? He hoped not. What did it have to do with his work though?

That night, when he went to Shiroku, he found out. The woman from before returned, but this time, as soon as she spotted Yu from over the counter, she rushed towards him. He tried to retreat to the back but was too slow. “Excuse me? Narukami, right?” The words rushed out of her mouth, a look of pure unadulterated determination on her face. Yu froze. How did she know? Was Yu as popular as Yosuke kept saying he was?

“Um. Y-yes??” He scrunched up his shoulders. The lady then smiled brightly. It was a very familiar smile and it gave him a familiar comforting warmth. She clasped one of his hands in her own, “It’s so nice to finally meet you! I’m sorry I kind of interrogated you last night!” She laughed, and Yu couldn’t help but feel a smile creep upon his face as well. Her smile just seemed contagious...kind of like Yosuke.

“Um. It’s okay Miss, but would you mind explaining please?” Yu scratched his cheek with his free hand. The woman blinked dumbfoundedly before letting go and sitting down on a stool. She seemed a tad embarrassed now, “Ah! I’m sorry! My name is Minori Hanamura!”

“Ah, that’s a pretty name, “His brain was on autopilot until he realized. She looked so familiar, her smile was like his, she was a  _ mother. _ Even if it wasn’t his mother, they were probably closely related. He quickly bowed towards her and held his arms by his sides, “I’m sorry! It’s nice to meet you too!” He panicked. The woman stammered, “Huh? What are you sorry for? You didn’t do anything wrong…”

Yu didn’t say anything and just stayed bowing, trying to show as much respect as possible. He valued Yosuke’s bond a lot, and wouldn’t want to risk it in any way possible. Not only that, but this woman possibly brought him into the world, so he was thankful for that. The woman let out a nervous laugh, “Please, I’m not here to scold you, I want to thank you…”

He looked up, “I’m sorry?”

She chuckled, “Yosuke talks a lot about you. He’s all like, ‘ Yu is the coolest guy I know,’ and ‘ I don’t even know how he’s human! He’s perfect at everything!’ The way he talks, I was beginning to think you were imaginary.” Yu looked down again, but this time out of embarrassment, “ ‘He’s so kind, empathetic, smart, I don’t know what I’d do without him.’ Hmhm! I've only ever seen him gush about one other person…” Her tone turned sad. Yu knew exactly where this was going and grimaced.

“Saki,” They both said it at the same time. Minori raised a brow and then laughed sadly, “Oh, of course, he told you about her, I don’t know why I'm surprised!” She looked down at her hands and intertwined her fingers. Saki’s death probably got her as broken up as Yosuke. “Ever since we moved to Inaba, Yosuke seemed to only go through the same motions over and over. Go to school, go to work, come home and sleep. For a while, he didn’t have any friends here, and nobody from the city ever came to visit. I never heard him on the phone either.” 

She looked away guiltily, “I was afraid that he'd have to spend the rest of his time here alone until he met Konishi-san.” She gave Yu a sad smile, “She meant the world to him, and she was such a sweet girl…” Yu looked away at that statement. He had his own gripes with Saki, but he wasn’t going to warp Hanamura-san’s memories of Saki with the truth. It was probably disrespectful, and Yosuke went through enough of that first-hand already. He didn’t want to watch someone learn the truth all over again.

“And then that incident happened… I’m not sure where Yosuke went after school let out, but once he came back home, he looked tired and upset. It was heartbreaking. From then on, I was even more afraid, especially with how distant he’d become. But after a few days, he got better. He was still sad, but better. Like he was making an impact on the world or something. I still don’t know why, but I got the sense that something interesting was going on, “She tilted her head. Yu stood calmly, trying to seem as not suspicious as possible.

Hanamura-san then smiled, “ Regardless, that’s when he started making offhand comments about you. As I said, I thought you weren’t an actual person for a while, but I was glad that Yosuke was finding happiness in something, anything. And I’m even more glad that I got to meet you. So thank you for being friends with my son.”

Yu put a hand on his chest, trying to calm himself down. He was so flattered that Yosuke talked so much about him, but also that he meant so much to him. He was flattered that his mother was sitting here, in the middle of the night, thanking him while in a pub. He was also glad that Yosuke had a kind mother. She really did seem like she was full of love…

“Thank you...for telling me this… “ He mumbled, “I...I really like Yosuke..and I’m glad I was able to make such an impact on him. Your son, he’s amazing too. I don’t understand how anyone could not like him.” He stopped himself from going on. If he did, it would seem like his mouth was falling down the stairs as he tried listing every single thing he liked about Yosuke. Instead, he settled for fiddling with his hands.

The woman smiled widely, “I’m glad, please continue to be friends with him...besides, his grades are looking slightly better too.” She snickered and Yu couldn’t help but laugh a bit as well. Hanmura-san then furrowed her brows. Yu watched her intently as she gave him a questioning look. “Wait, why are you working at the Shiroku Pub anyway?” Yu swallowed hard and quickly went back to work after remembering he was supposed to be doing that. She didn’t get an answer to that question. That night, she left a tip and went back home. The next day at school, Yu ended up telling his partner about the experience and Yosuke seemed extremely embarrassed.

“J-jeez why’d she tell you all that! “ He said awkwardly while putting his head on the desk. Yu smiled widely, “She’s a very nice woman, don’t worry.”

“That’s not the point! She made me sound like some school girl with a huge crush on you!” He groaned. He wasn’t wrong, but if that was the case, Yu wouldn’t mind in the slightest. “Well, I think it’s cute. Besides, I’d go out with you,” He felt his face heat up, but ignored it in favor of Yosuke’s reaction, which was a squeak. He looked up at him with a flushed face and growled.

“Don’t say things like that!” 


End file.
